Citation

Swannell C. Med. J. Aust. 2022; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Australian Medical Association, Publisher Australasian Medical Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Apart from the acute health consequences of extreme weather events -- deaths from drowning, injuries, poisonings and infections -- climate disasters interrupt treatment and overall health care, exacerbating conditions or even causing deaths, wrote the authors, led by Professor Sotiris Vardoulakis, Professor of Global Environmental Health at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University.

"Underlying vulnerabilities, including obesity, diabetes, cancer, mental illness and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs), complicate disaster recovery efforts in communities affected by extreme events," they wrote.

"Interruption may be caused by loss of belongings including medication, damaged transport routes, reduced health services, disrupted telecommunications, loss of power, and evacuations, often compounded by disrupted sleep, stress and reduced access to healthy food and safe water."

Vardoulakis and colleagues pointed out that health professionals have responded heroically to COVID-19, bushfires and floods over the past 2 years "but it is not sustainable in the long run"...

Language: en